Popular Outcast
by EvilEmmaEvans
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own Twisted.
1. Lacey's Dream

Popular Outcast

Chapter One: Lacey's Dream

**Summary:** Lacey and Rico have nothing in common. She's part of the popular crowd; he's one of the 3 main outcasts of the school. There's no way things could work out for them romantically, is there?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Twisted.

_He's staring at me. He always stares at me. Even when he's with her, I notice him staring at me. I know that he likes her; it's not that hard to figure out. He's protective of her, and tries to tell her not be hang out with the other guy. I've tried to tell her too, but she's stubborn and won't listen to us. Us… is there an us between me and him? I don't think so. We barely know each other. As far as I can recall, I've never said a single word to him, and he hasn't said a single word to me, but he still stares at me. When Archie kisses me, it doesn't feel right. When we pull away from each other, he's there, about ten feet away, glaring at Archie with his hands clenched into fists. It's the final straw this time. He doesn't even wait for Archie and me to pull away from each other. He comes right over, pulls Archie away from me and punches him straight in the jaw. I can see the look of confusion on my boyfriend's face. There's only one other person who has ever gotten into a fight with Archie over me, and that was the other guy. After regaining his bearings, Archie looks at me and then back at him._

"_What was that for?" Archie asks._

"_I never want to see you touching her again. This is a school hallway. Have some decency, why don't you. She deserves to be treated with respect, and groping her while kissing at school is not treating her right."_

_I've never seen him show that much emotion concerning me. I didn't even know he felt that way about me. I look at him and he gives me a small smile. After giving me a wink, he walks away leaving me standing there, staring after him, and trying to contemplate just what exactly happened. Did he want to be more than acquaintances? Did he want to be on more than a first name basis with me? I have no answers to these questions, but I also don't have a chance to try and figure things out because Archie is ranting at me now._

"_Babe, do you have any idea why he just did that? He's an outcast. He's friends with DePsycho and with DePsycho's loser girlfriend. Where does he get off telling me where I can and can't kiss you? He doesn't own you, and he isn't the boss of me. Next time I see him, I'm going to show him who's in charge around here." Archie said._

"_Archie, will you please calm down? Rico is just trying to be protective. You're right, he doesn't own me, and neither do you, but I know that he at least cares about how girls are treated. Does he care a little too much about me? Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't; but there's nothing that we can do about that. And you aren't in charge around here. You can't beat him up just for expressing an opinion. I'll talk to him; maybe I'll be able to get him to back off. You already got in trouble for getting in a fight with Danny, I don't want you to get into a fight with Rico and get into even more trouble." I reply. At least this way will get me a chance to actually talk to Rico and see what's going on with him… with us._

"_Fine, talk to the loser, but if he tries anything with you, I'm going to kill him." Archie says._

"_Don't talk like that Archie." I say in a small voice as the principal walks over with Chief Masterson._

"_Mr. Yates, did I hear you correctly just now when you said that you would kill a young man if he tried anything with Ms. Porter?" Principal Tang asks._

"_Principal Tang, it's nothing; really; only a really bad choice of words in a moment of frustration." I say quickly to save Archie's ass._

"_Be that as it may Ms. Porter, with everything that is going on, we cannot condone such talk." Principal Tang says._

"_Archie, will you please come with us?" Chief Masterson asks._

"_Yeah, sure; whatever you want Chief." Archie says with a roll of his eyes before following them towards Principal Tang's office._

_I'm standing there alone for only a moment before Rico comes back. I glance at him, and he's staring again. I turn to face him fully and give him a look that says to start talking. I don't know what it is about the way he's looking at me, but I lean in and kiss him. I'm shocked when he pulls away a second later._

"_I will not do this here Lacey." Rico says._

"_You seriously think that PDA shouldn't happen, don't you?" I ask._

"_I do. And while I know that it stands for Public Displays of Affection, I honestly think it should stand for Private Displays of Affection. What two people do with each other should be their own business. Not for the knowledge of everyone else." Rico says with a sigh. "Meet me in the parking lot after school. We can continue this conversation then." He adds before walking away. I'm stunned. I don't know what to say or do anymore. I start to get lost in thought but am quickly pulled out of it when the bell rings to begin class. I don't move, but the bell keeps ringing._

I open my eyes slowly and all but throw my alarm clock across the room. At least it had the decency to let me get through the kiss. But why would I dream of kissing Jo's best friend? I don't know him. He doesn't know me. We have nothing in common, and we really haven't said a single word to each other, ever. As I get up and start to get ready for school, all I can think about is Rico. Usually as I get ready, I think about Archie, or a test that I have that day, but today, today it's only Rico. What is it about him that has me so caught up in thinking about him?

"Lacey, sweetheart, are you coming down for breakfast?" My mom asks from the doorway.

"Yeah mom, I'll be there shortly." I reply as I finish curling my hair and apply a small amount of lip gloss.

As I give myself one last once over, I take a quick intake of breath. I'm dressing to look nice for Rico. Most days, I dress to look nice for Archie, and that involves straighter hair, lipstick and slightly more revealing clothes. Today I was wearing dark blue, skin tight jeans, a pair of black ankle boots, a salmon pink shirt and a black leather, three quarter length sleeved jacket. When I walk downstairs, I find that my mom isn't alone. Surprisingly, my mom is standing in the kitchen talking to Jo.

"Jo, what are you doing here?" I ask as I grab a bowl out of the cupboard and the cereal box out of another.

"I need to talk to you about something. And I figured it would be easier to do that here rather than at school." Jo replies. When I nod, she continues. "Danny and I are going to a show on Broadway this weekend, and Rico is going as well. He isn't dating anyone, and we were wondering if you wanted to go with us? There's no obligations attached. You don't have to include us in your popular activities or anything like that; we such thought that it would be nice." She explains quickly.

I had stopped when she mentioned that Rico was going. I turn around slowly and look at her. She's smiling, and I really hope that it's in an attempt to get me to agree to go. Because me liking Rico would be yet another thing that could possibly ruin me if anyone found out.

"Um, sure; that sounds like fun. What show is it?" I ask.

"It's Cinderella. Surprisingly the guys readily agreed to it when I suggested going to see it." Jo replies.

"Okay, yeah, that sounds good; just, um, text me the details." I say with a small smile.

"Oh, I actually have a ticket with me. You know, on the off chance that you had said yes." Jo says as she pulls the ticket out of her pocket and hands it to me.

"Thanks." I say before turning back to my cereal.

"So, um, I guess I'll see you at school then." Jo says awkwardly to my back.

"Yeah, see you there." I say with a small nod.

"It's nice to see you and Jo getting along Lacey. It's just like it used to be." My mom says.

"Nothing's the same as it used to be mom. Everything is different now." I say before pouring some milk into the bowl and silently eating my breakfast. The only thought that is running through my mind is that I'm going on a double date with Jo and Danny, in which Rico is my date. My life could not be any more screwed up.


	2. Lookout

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Chapter Two: Lookout

By the time that I get to school, I am very nervous. I just agreed to go to NYC with Jo, Danny and Rico to see Cinderella on Broadway as a double date sort of thing, and I have a boyfriend. Once I park and turn off my car, I just sit there for a couple minutes. I don't know if I can face Archie right now. With a sigh, I grab my bag and get out. There's no use in just sitting in my car just to avoid my boyfriend. Or was it to avoid seeing Rico? I really don't know. As I'm walking towards the building, I see Rico walking away from Jo and Danny. Why do they have to be making out like that? It's uncomfortable to watch. Oh my gosh… could that have been what my dream this morning was telling me? That it's uncomfortable for people to watch others making out? I glance over at Rico and he's staring at me. He knows that I saw Jo and Danny together, and he seems to be able to tell that it makes me uncomfortable. Before I can say or do anything, he's walking towards me with a nervous smile on his face. Man he's adorable.

"Um, hey Lacey." Rico says when he's within ear shot.

"Hi Rico." I reply. God I hope he can't tell that I'm nervous.

"So, Jo said that you're coming with us this weekend…?" He asks. He started off as if it was a statement, but ended like he wasn't sure if I had actually agreed to the idea.

"Yeah, I'm coming. It's been a while since I last saw something on Broadway." I reply with a small nod.

"Well, I'm glad you're coming. It won't feel as third-wheelish if I have someone to talk to." He says with a nod in Jo and Danny's direction.

"Is it this awkward seeing any couple make out? Or is it just because we know them?" I ask. Then I realize that I asked that out loud and look away.

"It really depends on how into the making out the couple is. If it's full on with the guy pushing the girl up against a locker, or feeling her up while they kiss, then it's just awkward no matter if you really know them or not. But if it's a small peck on the lips or cheek, then it's not awkward at all." Rico says.

"Do Jo and Danny making out like that make you uncomfortable?" I ask. Why am I such an idiot this morning? Of course it makes him uncomfortable. He walked away from them when they started going at it with each other.

"A little. Most of the time I can handle it, but when it's like… and she's against a tree. Why don't we just go inside? It will be a lot less weird if we aren't able to see them." Rico suggests as he motions towards the building.

"That makes sense." I say with a nod and follow his lead.

As we are walking through the halls, we make small talk. Some of it is random stuff, but most of it was about the play this weekend. After he drops me off at my locker, he gives me a smile and walks away. While I'm putting in the combination, Archie, Scott and Sarita walk over.

"What was he doing talking to you?" Archie asks as he cracks his knuckles.

"Before you try and teach him a lesson or whatever you want to do Archie, hear me out. Jo, Danny and Rico are going to see a play on Broadway this weekend and they had an extra ticket, so they invited me to go with them. Rico just walked me to my locker because it was getting to the point where it looked like Jo and Danny were about to have sex outside the front of the school. It was getting to be awkward, so Rico and I came inside. All we were doing was talking about transportation to the play, that's it." I explain, but Archie doesn't seem to really care.

"I don't want you going anywhere with DePsycho. Especially not to New York City." Archie said.

"First of all, his name is Danny, not DePsycho. Second of all, if he was so dangerous and wanted to kill me, he would have already done so. Thirdly, we're going to see Cinderella, so I doubt that going to see a fairytale would put anyone in a murderous mood. And fourthly, you don't have a say in the matter Archie. They invited me, I said yes. End of story." I say before grabbing my books and slamming my locker shut.

"Lace, come on. That's not what I meant." Archie tries to say, but I'm not hearing it.

"Archie, save it. I don't want to hear any more of your hateful remarks towards Danny, or Jo, or Rico. They have done absolutely nothing to you that would warrant this kind of behavior. I know that you all think that Danny killed Regina, but there is no proof in that. So just let it go." I say before I push past them and walk away.

"Lacey, wait!" I hear Archie call after me, but I don't respond. I just want to get as far away from him as I possibly could.

By the time lunch rolls around, I have completely cut off all communication with Archie. I have blocked his number, so he can't call me or text me, and I even have my phone turned off. As I enter the lunchroom, I see Rico looking around. When he spots me, he waves me over. Once I'm able to see who all he's sitting with, I roll my eyes. Jo and Danny are at it again.

"Hey Lacey. How has your day been so far?" Rico asks as he pulls the chair out for me.

"It could have gone better. Archie saw us talking this morning and got made; he even said that he didn't want me going to NYC with your guys this weekend. I told him off and haven't talked to him since. Sarita and Scott haven't even bothered to try and talk to me either." I explain with a sigh.

"Well, you're welcome to stay here and eat lunch with us if you would like to." Rico says before glancing briefly at the other two before turning his attention back to me.

"I'd like that." I say with a smile. "Oh, you have Miss Moseley for Chemistry, right?" I ask.

"Yeah, first period. Why, what's up?" Rico asks.

"I have her after lunch, and I could really use some help with the last few questions on the homework." I say as I pull out my textbook and my notebook.

"Sure, I'll do what I can." He says and smiles.

All throughout lunch, I'm on the lookout for Archie. Despite telling him to back off this morning, I didn't think that he would listen, and lunch would one of the best times for him to do something to Rico if he really was going to do something. And I'm right. When there was only 5 minutes left of lunch, Archie comes into the lunchroom flanked by Scott and one of the other guys on the soccer team. I see watch him glance around the room until his eyes land on me, and consequently, Rico. He makes a beeline for our table and I stand up quickly to stand between him and getting to Rico.

"Get out of the way Lace." Scott says just as quickly as I had stood up.

"I'm not moving Scott. Archie, don't do this." I say looking from Scott to Archie.

"Lacey, I told you that I was not okay with you being around him. I'm just trying to protect you." Archie says.

"You don't want me spending time with just Danny. You never said anything about not hanging out with Rico. Besides, you don't own me Archie. You can't tell me what to do or who to hang out with. You are blowing everything so far out of proportion. Rico is helping me with my Chemistry homework. That's it. And frankly, after this morning, I'm glad he saved me a seat because I didn't want to eat with you today." I say with a sigh.

"Lace, you never know what DePsycho could have told him. He could be silently planning on killing you, and you are just blindly allowing yourself to let your guard down." Archie says in a low voice.

"Archie, I am getting sick and tired of you calling him 'DePsycho'. His name is Danny. If you aren't going use it, don't bother even mentioning him. I know what he did 5 years ago, and he went to juvie because of it. But like I said this morning, there is no proof that he had anything to do with Regina's murder. So just leave us alone. If you ever come to your senses, and want to apologize, then come find us. But until then, stay away from us. And that includes me." I say before sitting back down and putting my head in my hands.

"Lacey…" Archie tried.

"Let's just go Arch, she's right." I hear Scott say, but I don't look up.

"You okay Lace?" Jo asks.

"I'll be fine. Besides, it's what you've wanted all along, right; for me to stand up for Danny?" I ask as I look up at her.

"Did you mean it?" Danny asks.

"Yeah, I did. I never thought that you killed Regina, or had anything to do with her murder, I just couldn't bring myself to say it before now." I reply with a nod.

"Let me walk you to your locker." Rico says and I give him a grateful smile.

As Rico and I walk towards my locker, there's a silence between us. I'm surprised that even after this morning being the first time that we had ever talked to each other that it wasn't awkward between us. I give him a side glance and am a little offended that this is one time that he isn't staring at me. Maybe he finds it invasive if he were to stare at me after what just happened with Archie. When we reach my locker I turn to him.

"Can I ask you something Rico?" I ask.

"Sure." He replies.

"Why are you always staring at me? And more so, why weren't you staring at me just now?" I ask. It feels weird asking him that, but it's something that I want to know.

"I'm sorry… I'll stop." He says.

"NO!" I say quickly before composing myself and starting again. "I mean, I don't want you to stop, I just want to know why you're always staring." I say.

"Is it really that much of a secret that you are one of the most beautiful girls in school? Is it so far out of the realm of reality that even someone like me, being labeled as an outcast, couldn't notice how beautiful you are? Lacey, I don't know how much more obvious to make it." Rico says with a shrug.

"Why weren't you staring at me just now as you walked me to my locker?" I ask.

"I don't know… maybe it was because you had just gotten into an argument with your boyfriend in front of at least half of the school where they were all staring at you. It just didn't feel right to stare at you." He replies with a small smile.

"Well, thank you for that; I really appreciate it." I say.

"No problem. See you later?" He asks and I realize he sounds very hopeful that we'll hang out outside of school.

"I might see you after school. You and Jo study at the diner, right? If I need help with my Chemistry homework, I might swing by." I say.

"Or you could swing by even if you don't need help." Rico says before walking away with a smile on his face leaving me there to stare after him. I shake my head at my obliviousness, I actually have a small crush on Rico, and he seems to feel the same way about me.


	3. Fallout

Popular Outcast

Chapter Three: Fallout

While I am paying attention during the rest of my classes, the rest of the day following lunch seemed to drag on. Rico wants me to come to the diner after school to study with him. I hope that he really just wants to study, because Archie and I haven't actually broken up, we are just in the middle of a fight. When the final bell of the day goes off, I'm the first one out of the classroom. After I stop by my locker to put the books that I won't need away, I hurry to the parking lot and to my car. I didn't expect to find Archie and Sarita standing there making out. And it wasn't like they were just standing between my car and the car next to me; they were leaning against my car. I'm furious now. Walking over to them with my head held high and rage burning in my eyes, I pull Archie away from Sarita and with more power and force than I knew I had, I punched him before turning to Sarita and slapping her.

"Get the hell off of my car and stay the hell away from me." I snap before getting in and quickly backing up causing Sarita to fall forward towards Archie. I can't even be bothered to make sure they are okay.

As I am about to pull out of the parking lot, I see Jo, Danny and Rico heading in the direction of the diner. I honk at them once and pull over. I expected them to take a moment to get in, but they all got in pretty quickly. Looking in my rear view mirror at Danny and Jo, I clear my throat.

"There is to be one seat between you two at all times when you are in my car. I do not want to see you two making out in the backseat while I'm driving." I say and Danny begrudgingly moves over so that he's sitting behind me.

"What made you stop?" Rico asks.

"Archie and Sarita were leaning against my car making out. I think I might have just broken up with him. Does punching him and slapping her qualify as not wanting anything to do with either of them?" I ask.

"I would say so." Jo replies with a smile.

"Good. Because that's what I did." I say in a small voice.

"You deserve to be treated better than that Lacey. You need a guy who knows how to treat women." Danny comments making eye contact with me in the rear view mirror before glancing at Rico and then back at me.

"You're right Danny, I do. I just can't believe that I didn't see before now that Archie isn't the right guy for me." I reply.

"Sometimes you need an outside opinion." Rico says with a smile.

As I drive us all to the diner, we all made small talk. I am happy to find that everything seems so natural about talking with them. It makes me realize that the entire time that I have been friends with Regina and Sarita and Archie and Scott that it has all been forced and has never felt real. Yes, Regina and I had been best friends, but even my conversations with her didn't flow as natural as this one was. Once we get to the diner and I park the car, I am surprised when Rico gets out and comes to open my door for me. Archie never did that. Then I realize that Rico had pulled the chair out for me at lunch as well, which is another thing that Archie never did for me. That makes me realize that he had done that for Regina numerous times, and has been doing that for Sarita since Regina died, but never once had he done that for me. Once I'm out of the car, I lean against Rico to keep myself from falling over. Archie never acted like a gentleman for me. Jo had been right. Archie and Regina had been fooling around behind my back and after she was killed, he moved on to Sarita.

"Lacey, are you okay?" Rico asks and I can hear the concern in his voice.

"Archie played me." I say slowly.

"How did he do that?" Jo asks.

"He was fooling around with Regina. I'm sorry for doubting you Jo; you were right. And after Regina was killed, Archie moved on to Sarita." I explain.

"I'm sorry Lacey. I hadn't wanted to be right." Jo says looking away from me.

"Let's just grab something to eat and get some studying in. I think we could all use some normal, boring teenager stuff to do right now." Rico says as he closes the door for me and motions towards the diner.

"That sounds like a good idea to me." Danny agrees as he takes Jo's hand in his and leads her to the door.

After Danny and Jo walk in, Rico holds the door open for me and places his hand lightly on the small of my back as I pass him. I glance at him briefly to try and see if he's testing the waters or not, but he simply smiles and follows me inside. As the three of them sit down in their booth, I stand at the end of the table a little awkwardly. I've never sat with them at the diner, and I'm not sure if I should even be here, but when Rico sees my hesitation, he smiles again and pats the seat next to him so I sit down slowly.

"Welcome to our booth Lacey." Jo says happily as she pulls out her psychology book and flips through it.

"You sit in this booth every day after school?" I ask in disbelief.

"Yeah; it's kind of our go to spot." Rico replies.

As Jo and Danny talk quietly about their psychology homework, Rico and I work on chemistry homework. Throughout the entire afternoon, I completely tune out everything that's going on around us and actually find that hanging out with my old friends is a lot easier than I thought it would be. When Danny had left 5 years ago, I quickly distanced myself from Jo, and never looked back. I made myself believe that it wouldn't be the same anymore, and while that is mostly proving to be true, it does feel like things might be able to be similar to what they used to be. By the time the four of us are done eating and studying, it has gotten dark, and I realize that I need to get home. As Rico and I are trying to get Jo and Danny to separate long enough for us to get into the car, the bell above the door chimes and we all look up. My heart stops. Archie and Sarita have just walked in and they are holding hands. When Sarita notices me, she smirks and walks over with Archie trailing behind her.

"Hey Lace." She says simply.

"Sarita." I reply folding my arms across my chest.

"I just wanted to let you know that this has nothing to do with you. Archie and I were meant to be together." Sarita says and I just stare at her.

"One, those two sentences make no sense with each other. Two, how could you two going behind my back to be together have nothing to do with me? And three, you do realize that he was with Regina before you, right?" I ask.

"You have no proof of that." Archie comments quickly.

"Oh really? Then explain to me why you would always pull Regina's chair out for her, but never mine. Explain how you would always open doors for Regina, but never for me. Explain how after she was killed, you started doing those things for Sarita, but still never did them for me. You never loved me, you never treated me right, and the entire time that we were dating, you were playing me. You either loved, or still love Regina, and I'm guessing you are just playing Sarita. And if I wasn't clear this afternoon, we're over Archie." I say as I push past them and hurry out to my car before anyone can see the tears that are forming in my eyes.

"Lacey!"

I know its Rico calling after me, but I don't turn around. I can't turn around, because if I do, I'll see Archie and Sarita. After getting into my car, I let the tears fall and only a minute or two later, I feel a hand on my shoulder. I glance up briefly and offer Rico a small, watery smile, but after a second, it falls. I'm not okay, and there's no point in trying to pretend like I am. And it's not like Rico wouldn't be able to see through it anyway.

"Are you going to be okay Lacey?" Rico asks.

"Eventually." I reply. I'm glad that he didn't ask me if I was okay. I hate when people ask that when the person being asked clearly wasn't okay.

"Do you want me to drive you home?" Rico asks.

"How would you get home?" I ask in return.

"I can walk." He says.

"No, Rico, I'll drop you off. I don't want to risk anything." I respond quickly.

"Lacey, I appreciate the offer, but I am perfectly fine walking home. It's no big deal." He argues.

"Rico, I insist. I am not going to let you walk home by yourself. I will drop you off." I say sternly, and he nods as I start the car.

"Aren't we going to wait for Danny and Jo?" He asks glancing back into the diner window.

"What's taking them so long?" I question.

Turning off the car, Rico and I sit there in silence as we wait for the other two to come out of the diner. After 5 minutes, and not seeing either of them, we hear sirens getting closer. Turning around, I see both a police car and an ambulance coming towards us. I glance at Rico and we both quickly get out of the car and hurry back inside the diner. There's a small crowd gathered around the middle of the establishment, so Rico and I have to push our way through to see what's going on. There, lying on the floor unconscious is Jo.


	4. Interrogations and Hospital Visits

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Chapter Four: Interrogations and Hospital Visits

I feel myself start to tear up at the sight in front of me. Jo is unconscious, Danny is holding her hand and is on the verge of tears and Sarita seems to be trying to hold Archie back from getting to Danny. The bell above the door dings and Chief Masterson comes charging in with the paramedics following close behind. When he sees his daughter lying on the floor he almost loses it too. He tells the paramedics to make sure that Jo will be okay. Even as the paramedics put Jo on a stretcher, Danny never lets go of her hand. It's only when Chief Masterson stops him from going with Jo does Danny even look around.

"I will need to talk to you at some point about what happened here Danny." Chief Masterson says.

"Of course Sir. But right now, I'm going with them to make sure that Jo is okay." Danny says as he hurried out of the diner.

"I want everyone who was here when my daughter got injured to stay here. Anyone who was not present needs to leave." Chief Masterson says and even though Rico and I were outside in my car, we don't move. My eyes haven't left the spot where Jo was laying. I do know that I'm clutching Rico's arm to keep from collapsing again.

"Lacey, Rico, I saw you two come in to the diner as we pulled up. You are free to go." The Chief says.

"Mr. Masterson, Sir, we might be of some help. We were with Jo and Danny just prior to whatever happened. The only reason we weren't inside when it happened was because of them." Rico says pointing to Archie and Sarita.

"Look Loser, you are not involved in what's going on between Lacey, Archie and I. So butt out." Sarita says frostily.

"He is involved Sarita. So back the hell off." I retort. No one is going to get away with talking to Rico like that.

"Okay, that's enough. I want the four of you to sit." Chief Masterson says firmly.

As we all walk over to one of the booths, I can feel Archie staring at me and it's unsettling. I slide into one side of the booth and Rico slides in after me. On the other side, Archie slides in so that he's across from me and then Sarita sits down across from Rico. I don't look up at him. I know that he wants me to, but I can't. He has cheated on me with both of my best friends, and I hate him. I am not going to give into Archie. Taking Rico's hand in mine under the table, I give it a squeeze and he squeezes mine back. I lean my head on Rico's shoulder and let go of his hand while we wait for Chief Masterson to start asking us questions.

"Lacey, I'm sorry." Archie mutters from across the table.

"Save it Archie. Nothing you can say or do will ever change what you have done. I never want to see or talk to you again." I reply.

"Okay… let's start from the beginning. Rico, please tell me everything that you can." Chief Masterson says as he pulls a chair over and sits at the end of the table.

"Well, Jo, Danny, Lacey and I came here to study and to get something to eat. We were here for a good 3 or 4 hours or so, and when we were done eating, we, well, Lacey and I started to get ready to go. We were trying to get Danny and Jo to separate because they were making out when Archie and Sarita came in. Lacey, Sarita and Archie got into an argument that resulted in Lacey hurrying out to her car and I followed to make sure that she was going to be okay. After discussing how we were going to get home, Lacey started her car and was about to leave when I asked about us waiting for Danny and Jo, so she turned it off and we waited. 5 minutes or so went by, we hadn't seen Danny or Jo come out, and when we heard the sirens, we came back inside to see what was going on. That's when we saw Jo unconscious on the floor." Rico explains.

"Is that true Lacey?" Chief Masterson asks.

"Yes Sir. That's exactly what happened." I reply.

"Archie, since it looked like Sarita was holding you back from getting to Danny, I am assuming that you were involved in a heated conversation with Danny, and Jo got in the way?" Chief Masterson questions.

"Not exactly Sir." Archie replies.

"Then tell me what happened after Lacey and Rico left." Chief Masterson says.

"Well, Sarita and I were going to order something to eat when Desai asked me why I would cheat on someone as amazing as Lacey. I told him that what happens between me and Lacey is not of his business and then Jo butted in. She told me that Lacey was their friend and that if she got hurt, emotionally or physically, by me or anyone, that it was their business. I scoffed at their naivety and went to walk away when Danny tapped me on the shoulder. As I turned around, he punched me and I lost my balance. When I was standing straight again, I noticed Jo was on the floor. I don't know how she fell, but I'm pretty sure that it was Danny's fault." Archie says.

"So, basically, in a more elaborate description, you are saying that you and Danny were in a heated conversation and Jo got in the way." Chief Masterson deducted.

"If you want to look at it that way, then yeah, sure, that's what happened." Archie says with a roll of his eyes.

"Sarita, do you have anything to add?" Chief Masterson asks.

"No." She says simply. "Can we go now?"

"Sure, but keep yourselves available, I might need to talk to you both again." Chief Masterson says as Archie and Sarita get out of the booth and go over to the counter.

"Can we go to the hospital?" Rico asks.

"Of course; and if my wife is already there, or gets there before I do, please let her know that I will be there shortly." Chief Masterson replies with a small smile.

As he gets out of the booth, Rico takes my hand in his. I know it's more of a friendly gesture, an action to show a support system, but I can't help but reveal in the way that my hand fits in his. Following him out to my car, my mind is a mess. There is just something about the way that Archie claimed to have not seen Jo fall and Sarita's lack of anything to say that doesn't sit right with me. As I start to go around to the driver's side of the car, Rico stops me and gently takes the keys from my hand. It's at that moment that I notice how much my body is shaking. After helping me into the car, Rico walks around to the driver's side and gets in. It's only a few minutes into the drive to the town hospital that I break the silence.

"Do you think Archie was telling the whole truth?" I ask in a small voice. I can't believe that either he or Sarita didn't see Jo fall.

"No, I don't. If any part of what Archie said was true, then there would have been no way that they didn't see Jo fall. The only way that it would have even been remotely possible would be if Danny pushed Jo before he punched Archie." Rico says.

"I don't think that Danny would do that to Jo. He cares about her too much to purposely hurt her like that." I comment.

"I'm not saying that he would have pushed her with the intent of making her fall. He could have just been pushing her behind him so that way she wouldn't get hurt if the fight escalated and she fell. But that would only be plausible if any part of what Archie said was true. And frankly, he's been known to lie, so I doubt that he told any part of the truth." Rico explains.

"The only part that seems off to me is the end. Yes, Danny goaded Archie before, but it wasn't until Archie threw the first punch that Danny reacted. I just don't see Danny punching Archie without reason. Yes he cares about me, and doesn't want to see me hurt again, but he doesn't start a physical fight. He'll finish one, but he will never throw the first punch in one." I say.

"That is true." Rico says as we pull into the guest parking lot of the hospital.

After parking the car, Rico and I hurry inside. Looking around for a second, we see Danny sitting with his head in his hands. Walking over, Rico sits down next to him, and I clear my throat. When he looks up, my heart breaks. His eyes are red from crying and he looks like he's been through hell.

"How is she?" Rico asks.

"She's in a coma. Her mom's in her room, but they won't let me see her yet. They will only allow family in. Where' her dad?" Danny asks looking past us.

"He'll be here shortly." I say in a small voice. "What happened?" I ask.

"I don't even know. One second she was sitting on the edge of the booth and the next I hear a thud and she's on the floor. I am so damn confused right now." He replies as he lowers his head to his hands again.

"Did they say when they would allow friends to see her?" Rico asks after a moment or two.

"No, they didn't. They won't tell me anything. I wouldn't even know that she was in a coma if Tess hadn't come out and told me. Did Kyle talk to Archie and Sarita?" He asks.

"He talked to all of us. Archie said that he's pretty sure you caused her to fall and that in the time that it took for him to turn around, and for you to tap him on the shoulder and then punch him, Jo was on the floor. Sarita didn't have anything to add to Archie's little story though." I say as I clench my hands into fists.

"What all did Archie say happened?" Danny asks looking from me to Rico.

With a sigh, Rico explains the whole thing. By the end of it, Danny looks just as furious as I feel. I can tell that he knows Archie is lying, but I can't bring myself to question him on which part. After a couple minutes of silence, Rico then relays our conversation in the car to Danny, and while I thought it would make Danny even more upset, I'm surprised when he simply nods.

"Danny… what part…?" I start to ask, but am interrupted when Chief Masterson comes in to the waiting room.

"Where's my daughter?" He asks the receptionist.

"She's in room 104 Kyle. Sir, Jo's in a coma." Danny replies.

"Why aren't you with her?" The Chief asks.

"They won't let me in. They are only allowing family. Tess is with her now." Danny replies.

"These three are coming with me." He says indicating the three of us.

"Chief Masterson that is against…" the nurse at the desk starts to say.

"I don't care about the damn policies. These are my daughter's best friends, and they are coming with me. If there is going to be anyone besides her mother and I that could possibly wake her up, it's one of them." Chief Masterson says as he ushers us towards Jo's room.

When we walk in, I let out a small cry and turn to Rico. Jo is connected to a handful of different machines, and there is a bandage on her head. After Rico gets me to calm down a little bit, I slowly look over at my friend. Danny has moved to the far side of the bed while Kyle and Tess are on the side closest to Rico and I. I can hear Danny muttering something to Jo, but I can't make out what exactly he's saying. When he kisses the back of Jo's hand, my body starts to shake again with silent sobs and Rico walks me out to the hall.

"It's going to be okay Lacey. Jo's a strong girl, she'll pull through." Rico whispers as he holds me to him and gently rubs my back. Before I can respond, his phone vibrates in his pocket and my eyes go wide. I've had my phone off all day. And I never called my mom to tell her where I was.

As Rico pulls out his phone to check the text, I pull mine out as well and turn it on. I'm dreading how many messages I'll have from my mom. Once it's fully on, I'm slightly surprised at just how many messages I have. My mom has called me 10 times and sent me 20+ text messages. I am going to be in so much trouble once I get home.


	5. Late Night Confessions

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Chapter Five: Late Night Confessions

I look up at Rico for a brief moment before I start to listen to all of the voicemail messages that I have. They're all the same. My mom is concerned and wondering where I am. The texts are the same as well. With a sigh, I type a quick reply.

**I'm at the hospital. Jo's in a coma. I will be home as soon as I can. – Lacey**

"I need to get going. My parents want me home." Rico says and I nod.

"My mom wants me home too." I say.

Once we tell the Mastersons that we are leaving and ask them to keep us updated on Jo's status, Rico and I walk out of the hospital in silence. As we reach my car, I realize that Rico still has my keys, so I just let him drive. Once we get into the car, we sit there not saying or doing anything. I know this whole thing is probably affecting him more than me, but I don't know what to say. I glance over at him and he is gripping the steering wheel. I reach over and gently put my hand on top of his and feel him relax a little.

"Rico…" I start to say, but have nothing to add to it.

"Today did not go the way I thought it would." Rico mutters.

"I know the feeling." I reply.

"I thought that it would be a nice and relaxing day, but no. Instead it's been filled with tension and fights. I want so much to protect you and Jo, but whenever the opportunity presented itself, I came up short." He says before turning to look at me. "I'm sure you've been able to figure this out by now Lacey, but I really like you. I know that things haven't been great between you and Archie since Jo told you about the DVD that Regina made, but I honestly didn't think that you would…" He trails off midsentence.

"You didn't think that I would what Rico?" I prompt. I need to know what he was going to say.

"I didn't think that you would seem to actually like me. Despite the fact that I like you, and have for a very long time, there has always been a part of me- the logical part- that kept telling me that you would only ever see me as the loser geek that hangs out with your old best friend." He says and I feel a couple of tears slide down my cheek.

"Rico, I never thought of you that way. I don't think I ever could; even if Jo hadn't invited me to the play this weekend." I say.

"I have an overwhelming urge to kiss you right now Lacey, but I'm not going to." He says after a moment of silence.

"Why won't you?" I question.

"You just broke up with your boyfriend today; our friend is in the hospital in a coma; and I'm not sure if me wanting to kiss you is because I've liked you for so long, or because my hormones are messed up because of everything that has happened today." Rico replies.

Even though what Rico is saying makes sense, a part of me still wants him to kiss me. With a sigh, I lean back in my seat.

"We should get home. We don't want our parents to worry." I say and he starts the car.

We don't say anything else to each other on the way home, and it takes me a good 5 minutes to realize that he's heading to my house, not his. However, when we pass my house, instead of stopping, I give him a confused look. A minute later, we pull up to a house that is literally down the street from mine.

"You live down the street from me." I say.

"Yeah, I do. I told you I would have been fine walking home from your house." Rico says as he puts my car in park and gets out. I quickly follow.

"How long have you lived here?" I ask.

"I've lived here my entire life Lacey." He replies. He's not looking at me.

"You said you've liked me for a long time. You watched me grow up. When I started hanging out with the popular crowd, leaving Jo behind, you became her friend just on the off chance that she and I would rekindle our friendship and you would have a reason to talk to me; didn't you?" I ask, folding my arms across my chest.

"No, Lacey… that's not true." Rico says quickly put he's still not looking at me.

"Tell me the truth Rico. You became friends with Jo just so you could get to me." I say.

"Lacey, please believe me, that's not why I became friends with Jo. Yes I've liked you for a long time, and yes I saw you grow up. And who in this town didn't see you leave Jo behind to put what Danny did behind you? I saw that Jo needed a friend and I became friends with her. She lost Danny, she lost you, and she had no one else to turn to. It's an awkward stage even if your best friend didn't kill someone, so I was being nice. I gave her someone that she could talk to. I gave her someone that she could hang out with. The thought of having a reason to talk to you if you and Jo rekindled your friendship never crossed my mind. There were so many other thoughts that crossed my mind when it came to having a reason to talk to you, but none of them involved using Jo. None of them even involved Jo. And none of them ever had a chance of happening." Rico says.

"I can't believe that I started to let my guard down. Especially with someone who hangs out with Danny. I knew that liking you was wrong, but I thought it was because I was dating Archie. But now I know that despite his lack of gentlemanly attributes towards me, he was right today. I have no idea what Danny has told you. For all I know, you can be playing me just like Archie did. Making me think that you were just the opposite of him, when really, you are just like him." I exclaim.

"Lacey, please… don't do this…" Rico says in a small voice.

"Save it Rico." I say and turn to walk away when he grabs my arm and spins me around and kisses me.

I'm shocked by his actions, but after a moment, I find myself kissing him back. When he pulls away, I simply stare at him and he stares back at me.

"I would never use Jo in that way and I would never play with your emotions Lacey. I care about you and your happiness way too much to ever do that." Rico says before he walks into his house. As I watch him walk away, I feel terrible. I never should have said those things.

The next few days are weird. I'm not talking to Archie or Sarita, yet Scott still says hi to me, I think he feels bad about not telling me about Archie's escapades with Regina and Sarita. I avoid Rico and Danny because I don't know what to say to either of them. After school instead of going home, I go straight to the hospital to see how Jo is doing. She's awake finally, but she's still a little groggy from the medicine that they were giving her for her head injury. On Friday as I'm leaving her room, Rico is walking in with Danny. I should have known that they came together. After letting Danny into the room, I gently push Rico out into the hall.

"I would like to see my friend." He says and there is no emotion in his eyes or voice.

"Rico, I need to apologize to you. I never should have said what I said to you on Monday. It was wrong, and I don't know what I was thinking. I know that would never treat Jo the way I accused you of. It's hard not to want to be friends with her, trust me, I know. And if you are willing, I would really like to still go to the play with you tomorrow. He and I haven't actually talked, but Danny did send me a text saying that you were still going." I say.

"Lacey, I just don't know. It was supposed to be a double date, but with Jo's accident, they aren't going. I just don't know how well things would turn out if you and I went just the two of us." Rico says after letting out a sigh. At least there was some emotion back in his voice.

"I understand Rico. Let me know what you decide. You can swing by my house and let me know if you want to." I say as I start to walk away.

"Damn it; I can't say no to you Lacey. Of course I still want you to come. I'll pick you up at 4:30." He says with a smile.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow at 4:30." I say as I give him a small kiss on the cheek. It's definitely not as passionate as the kiss Monday night, but I have decided to put all thoughts of Monday night out of my head now that Rico has accepted my apology.

As I start to walk away again, Rico stops me.

"I know that after everything that has happened over the past week, I should already know this, but Danny won't give it to me. So, um, what's your number?" Rico asks and I notice a small blush rise in his cheeks.

"Oh, it's (212) 576-7837. Um, what's yours?" I ask.

"It's (212) 274-8666." He replies.

"I'll talk to you later." I say and finally walk away. A moment later, my phone vibrates in my hand and I look down to see that I have a new text… from Rico.

**I can't wait for tomorrow night. I'll see what Danny wants to do with his and Jo's tickets. Maybe you can invite Phoebe and someone else. – Rico**

**You couldn't have said this when we were just talking? – Lacey**

**I wanted to make use of having your number. Is that a crime? – Rico**

**Not at all ;P – Lacey**

As I near my car, I start to get an uneasy feeling. It's getting dark, but the lights in the parking lot haven't kicked on yet. I look around but I don't see anyone. Taking another step towards my car, I notice a hooded figure leaning against the van that is parked next to me. I start to turn around to head back inside, but the voice of the hooded figure stops me in my tracks.

"Hello Lacey." Archie says pushing off of the van and coming towards me.

"What the hell do you want?" I ask. I try to step backwards, but my feet won't listen.

"I want you Lacey." Was the simple reply that I got.

"If you wanted me, then why the hell did you cheat on me with Regina and Sarita?" I ask. I type out a text as discretely as possible to Rico to call the police.

"Who are you texting?" Archie asks.

"That's none of your business." I retort.

"Is it the loser that you stood up for on Monday? Cause he won't be able to help you." Archie sneers.

"His name is Rico." I reply through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I know what his name it. And I know what DePsycho's name is too. I just don't both referring to people who are beneath me by their names. It's not worth my time." Archie says. He's still coming towards me and my feet still won't move away.

"You can't be bothered to call Rico and Danny by their names, but you waste your time calling them by the stupid and lame nicknames that you've given them, or that they've been associated with?" I ask.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." He replies and I hear the sirens getting closer. Archie hears them too. "You called the cops? All we're doing is having a conversation here Lace." He says as he turns his head towards me with a murderous gaze.

"She didn't call the cops, I did." Rico says as he walks over to me quickly and takes my hand.

Before Archie had a chance to reply, Chief Masterson was getting out of his police car. Looking between me and Rico and Archie, he lets out a sigh.

"What's going on here?" He asks.

"We're just talking Chief." Archie says with a shrug.

"That's not entire true Mr. Masterson." Rico says quickly.

"Lacey, what happened?" Chief Masterson asks.

"I was walking to my car when I started to get an uneasy feeling. I looked around and noticed Archie leaning against the van. I didn't know who it was, so I was going to go back inside and just come back out to my car when Danny and Rico left, but when he started talking, I froze. I tried to walk backwards as he came towards me, but my feet wouldn't move. So I sent Rico a text asking him to call the police." I explain.

"Rico, please take Lacey home." Chief Masterson says after a moment.

With a nod, Rico walks me past Archie and to my car. When he puts his hand out, I don't hesitate in giving him my keys. There is no way that I can drive after a scare like that. As we are driving along, we sit there just listening to music. Once he gets out and comes to open my door for me, I do something that I probably shouldn't do.

"Wanna come in?" I ask softly.

A/N: Neither Lacey's nor Rico's phone numbers are real. I made them up. Please do not try to call either number. - Emma


	6. A Night Alone

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Chapter Six: A Night Alone

When I ask Rico if he wants to come inside, his eyes go wide. It takes him a couple minutes to give me an answer, and in those couple minutes, he looks at my house, down the street to his house and then back to me.

"Will your mom be okay with that?" Rico asks.

"She is out of town for the weekend, and my sister is visiting with our dad. So I have the house to myself." I reply and he looks away.

"What did you want to do if I come in?" He asks in a low voice.

"Talk, get to know each other. We are going to New York City tomorrow night together; it would be nice to really know who we are going with." I reply.

"That makes sense. Oh, speaking of NYC, Danny gave me his and Jo's tickets, so if you want to invite Phoebe and someone else, you are welcome." Rico says as he pulls them out of his pocket.

"I'll send her a text and ask her if she would like to come, but I'll let her decide who she brings… if that's okay…" I say and trail off at the end.

"That's fine with me." Rico says with a nod.

"So… do you want to come inside?" I ask again.

"Oh, right… sure, I would love to." He says with a smile.

Once we get inside, the first awkward silence between Rico and I falls upon us. He's glancing around the living room and taking everything in. As I walk into the kitchen to get some hot water going for hot chocolate or tea, he follows me. Once the water is going, I turn to look at him.

"So, um, do you want to hang out in the living room, or my bedroom, or…" I leave the end of the sentence open so that he can decide where he wants to hang out.

"We can hang out in your room if you would like." He says with a shrug.

"Would you like some tea or hot chocolate?" I ask turning around to grab two mugs from the cupboard.

"Hot chocolate sounds nice, thank you." He says. "Why did you leave Jo behind after Danny left? Don't you think it would have been easier to get through that event together rather than hanging out with people who had no idea what you were going through?" He asks and I turn back around to face him.

"I don't even really know anymore. I think it had something to do with wanting to think that it never happened, and the fast I distanced myself from it, and the less I focused on it, the more I made myself believe that it never happened. I wasn't thinking of Jo or what she needed or what we needed from each other at that point; I was only thinking about myself." I admit.

"Was there ever a point after you started to become popular where you considered reaching out to Jo and inviting her to join you?" He asks and I shake my head.

"Like I said Rico, I was trying to distance myself from what had happened. If I had reached out to Jo, or responded when she tried to reach out to me right I after I left her, I would have been doing just the opposite of what I wanted." I explain.

"Do you have any questions for me?" He asks.

"When did you start liking me?" I ask after a moment of thought.

"I've liked you since 4th grade. When your class did that play on photosynthesis, I was drawn to your performance as a raindrop." Rico replies and I notice a small blush creep onto his neck. Not that I'm staring at his neck or anything.

After that, the water was ready so I turned around to make our hot chocolates. I could hear Rico moving around, but it wasn't until he gently stills my movements with his hands that I realize he was right behind me. I try to get him to let go so that I can turn around, but he won't let up, so I let him control the moment and what happens. Once he gets me to let go of the spoon and mug, I let him turn me around.

"Rico…" I say softly. "Where is this going?" I ask.

"As far as you will let it go Lacey. We will not do anything that you aren't comfortable with." He replies before gently pressing his lips to mine.

The hot chocolate forgotten, I move my hands up to rake through his hair. His hands move to my waist and he's pulling me closer to him. I want this to continue, but I know that it can't. Not yet anyway. Rico and I still barely know each other. There is still so much that we need to learn about the other before we can really get to the point where we start to make out when we kiss. Then his lips move from mine to my neck and I almost lose my train of thought. After I let out a sigh, I move my hands to his shoulders and gently push him away.

"Rico, I'm sorry, but we can't do this. We really just met on Monday and we barely know each other." I say.

"I'm sorry Lacey… I shouldn't have done that. I just got carried away." He says as he steps away from me completely looking dejected.

"Rico, I do like you, and I do want to us to be able to get to the point, but I would like us to get to know each other better first." I say quickly.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something?" He asks changing the subject.

"Sure. I have a ton in my room. We can pick one when we get up there." I reply.

"Why don't we just watch it in the living room?" He asks.

"Oh, okay. Yeah, the movies are in the cabinet under the TV if you want to go pick one out while I finish getting the drinks together." I say with a small smile.

By the time that I get out to the living room with the drinks, Rico already has a collection of movies picked out for us to watch. Taking a closer look, I notice that it's the lineup of the Classic Disney Princess movies.

"I figured since we are going to see Cinderella tomorrow night that we could have a Disney Princess marathon. Is that okay?" Rico asks.

"Yeah, that's perfect." I say with a smile.

Once I set the mugs on the table, I set the TV up and pop in the first movie. As I go to sit down on the couch, I hesitate for a moment. As much as I want to curl up next to Rico, the kiss has left a little bit of awkwardness hanging in the air, so I curl up at the other end of the couch, try to get comfortable and grab my mug off of the table. As each movie comes to an end and I put in the next one, I find that I sit back down on the couch just a little bit closer to Rico than previously. By the time that I put in Cinderella, I am sitting next to him. Half way through the movie, I am curled up against his side and his arm is around my shoulders. When the movie ends, I get up and stretch.

"I should probably be getting home." Rico says awkwardly while continuing to stay seated.

"You could stay if you want to. After what happened with Archie today, I'm a little scared to be home alone." I admit.

"Lacey, would that really be a good idea?" Rico asks.

"Rico, I want you to stay, but if you don't think that it would be a good idea, you can go home." I say.

"I don't want you to be alone, but I don't think it would be a good idea for us to stay here. Come over to my house. My parents won't mind if you spend the night." He says after a moment of thinking.

"Okay, let me go get my pajamas and then we can go." I say before I head upstairs. Half way up, I glance back at him. "Do you want to come upstairs so you're not waiting down here?" I ask.

"Sure." He replies with a small shrug.

After I grab an overnight bag from the hall closet, I remember that I still need to send Phoebe a text asking her if she wants to come to the play with Rico and I tomorrow. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I open a new message to her.

**You busy tomorrow night? – Lacey**

**Nope. I need something to do to get out of Family Fun Night. – Phoebe**

**Want to come to NYC with me and Rico? We're going to go see Cinderella on Broadway and we have a couple of extra tickets. – Lacey**

**Rico? You mean Jo's friend? What about Archie? – Phoebe**

**I broke up with him on Monday. And yes, Rico is Jo's best friend. Do you want to come? You can bring a date if you want. – Lacey**

**Can I invite Scott? – Phoebe**

**You and Scott are an item now? – Lacey**

**Not exactly. I like him, and I think he might like me, but we could just go as friends. – Phoebe**

**That's fine with me, but let me ask Rico what he thinks. After Regina's party, I'm sure Jo told him how Scott was acting. – Lacey**

**Okay, let me know. – Phoebe**

**Will do. – Lacey**

"Hey Rico, would you be okay with Phoebe inviting Scott to come along tomorrow night?" I ask as I walk into my room.

"As long as he doesn't try anything with you, I see no problem in that." He says.

**Go ahead and invite Scott. – Lacey**

**Cool; I'll let you know in the morning what he says. – Phoebe**

After that, I turn my phone off. Once I grab my pajamas off of my bed, I stuff them into the bag and then go to grab my toothbrush from the bathroom. Once I'm sure that I have everything that I will need, Rico and I walk out of the house. After locking the door, I put my keys into my bag and start to make my way over to Rico's house. When I realize that Rico isn't following me, I turn around and catch him staring again.

"Are you coming? I think it might be a little weird for me to show up at your house if you aren't there." I say with a smirk. I am not going to let the awkwardness get to me.

"Right, that would be weird." Rico says as he hurries to catch up to me and takes my hand in his.

As we walk up to his front door, we don't say anything. I try to brace myself for what could happen when we walk into the house, but since I know very little about Rico and his family, there is nothing for me to brace myself against. However, I don't expect what does happen.

"Mom, I'm home!" Rico calls out as he takes my bag from me and puts it by the bottom of the stairs.

"Where have you been all evening? We were getting worried." Rico's mom says as she comes into the entry way and sees me. "Oh, you must be Lacey. Rico did not mention how beautiful you have grown to be." She says with a smile.

"Um, thank you." I say slowly as I side glance at Rico. He's looking everywhere but at me or his mom.

"How's Jo doing Rico?" His mom asks.

"She's awake at least. When we were there this afternoon, she was still a little groggy, but she at least recognized us." Rico replies.

A pang of jealousy runs through me. Jo didn't recognize me. She recognized Danny and Rico. That's the 'we' that Rico was talking about.

"Well, that's a good thing. I'm glad she remembers her friends." She says before walking away.

"Oh, mom, Lacey's going to spend the night." Rico says before leading me upstairs.

"Rico, Jo didn't recognize me when I was there this afternoon, she just recognized you and Danny." I say.

"When I walked into her room, she was asking Danny if it had been you that had just left. He said yes. She did recognize you, but she had just woken up before you got there, so it took a little while for her to connect the dots." Rico explains.

"That makes sense I guess…" I say slowly.

"So, sleeping arrangements… you are welcome to sleep in my room and I can sleep in the guest room, or you can sleep in the guest room. What are you more comfortable with?" Rico asks.

"If you have a guest room, I don't want to put you out of your room. You can sleep in your room; I'll sleep in the guest room." I say quickly. I will not admit to Rico that what I really want is to sleep in his room.

"Are you sure? It's really not a problem." He counters.

"Rico, I'm a guest in your home, it wouldn't be right for me to kick you out of your room." I argue.

"The mattress on my bed is much more comfortable than the one in the guest room. I am willing to sacrifice a good night's sleep to make sure that you get one." He says.

"Are you sure that it's alright Rico?" I ask.

"I insist. Why I didn't just insist in the first place, I don't know." He replies with a smile.

"Okay then…" I say slowly.

"Make yourself comfortable; I'll go get your bag." Rico says before heading back downstairs as my phone vibrates indicating that I have a text.

**You and Rico need to come back to the hospital. Now! – Danny**


	7. Life on the Line

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Chapter Seven: Life on the Line

When Rico comes back upstairs with my bag, I show him the text from Danny. Quickly grabbing my keys out of the bag, we rush back downstairs and down the street to my car. Getting in, I put the key in the ignition and drive as fast as I can without breaking the law to get to the hospital. Once I park the car, Rico and I hurry inside and to Jo's room. We see Danny leaning against the wall by Jo's door and he looks like he's been crying.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"After Rico left this afternoon, Jo fell asleep. The doctors didn't think anything of it until her heart stopped. Kyle and Tess are getting something to drink, but yet again, they won't let anyone who isn't family in the room. Kyle wants all of us here so that he can talk to us about Monday again. If Jo doesn't make it through…" Danny cuts off as more tears come to his eyes and he gets choked up.

"Hey, she's going to make it through. She has to." Rico says quietly.

"Lacey, Rico, thank you both for coming back. I want all three of you outside, now." Chief Masterson says when he and Tess come back a minute later.

"Sir, Lacey and I weren't inside when Jo fell; we don't have any new information for you." Rico says quickly.

"I understand that Rico, but while my daughter's life is hanging in the balance, I want to make sure that I have every little bit of information that I can get so that justice can be served." The Chief says.

"Mr. Masterson, doesn't the diner have video surveillance? Couldn't you look at that to see what happened?" I ask quickly as Danny, Rico and I follow Jo's dad outside.

"They do, but we haven't gotten a chance to look over it. Every time that we try, something pulls us away." The Chief says.

"They do realize that you're trying to figure out what happened to your daughter, right?" Danny asks and I see him clench his hands into fists.

"It doesn't seem like they do." Rico comments sullenly.

"You're right Rico, it doesn't seem like they realize Jo is involved, but with Regina's murder still unsolved, they think that that takes precedence over everything else." He replies.

"Why don't we go there now? We can come with you, and if anyone is there at this time of night and tries to pull you away to work on Regina's case, we can tell them why you can't." I suggest.

"You know that I can't let you three actually view the footage, right?" He asks.

"Unless Jo doesn't make it, all it would be would be a father trying to make sure that his daughter is going to be okay with the help of her friends. Mr. Masterson, we want to help." I say. I made the wrong choice after Danny left in no longer being friends with Jo, but I am doing to do what I can to change that now.

"Okay, meet me at the station. I'm going to tell Tess where we're going." He says before heading back inside.

"Rico and I walked here this afternoon, so can you give us a ride to the station Lace?" Danny asks.

"Of course; Rico and I did come here together." I reply as I walk towards my car.

"Is everything okay with you two again? You were avoiding us Lacey." Danny asks looking between me and Rico.

"We're basically okay." Rico replies.

"You're basically okay? What's wrong?" Danny asks.

"Danny, can you please just drop it; at least for right now? We have a more pressing issue to deal with at the moment then if Rico and I are okay." I snap then sigh. "I'm sorry. I'm just worried about Jo." I say.

"It's understandable Lace. We'll talk about this once we know that Jo is going to be okay." Danny nods.

The drive from the hospital to the police station is a quiet one. None of us want to voice our fears on Jo's condition. None of us want to even think about what would happen if Jo didn't make it through. I know that Danny and Rico would be more affected by that then I would, but there is a part of me that blames me for this happening. If I hadn't left Jo behind to be friends with Regina, Sarita, Scott and Archie, then it wouldn't have mattered who Archie fooled around with, and Sarita wouldn't have felt the need to taunt me with her being with Archie, and then maybe Jo wouldn't have gotten hurt. As I come to a red light, I let out a sigh.

"Everything okay Lace?" Rico asks.

"I can't help feeling like this is my fault." I say.

"Lacey, you were outside… there's no way that you are to blame in any way." Danny says quickly.

"I just feel like if I hadn't abandoned her that this wouldn't have happened. You know domino effect." I say as the light turns green.

"If you want to look at it that way, then I would be to blame. But we can't think like this Lace. Jo needs us to stay positive. None of us are to blame for this. We are going to prove that Archie and/or Sarita had something to do with it." Danny says with a shake of his head.

After that, we didn't say anything else. Glancing over at Rico, he gives me a reassuring smile and takes my free hand in his and gives it a squeeze. As I pull into the parking lot of the police station, I catch Danny's eye in the rear view mirror and I see him smirk. I give him a look that tells him to shut up as we get out of the car.

"Oh come on Lacey, its sweet that you two like each other so much." Danny says and I push him away from me.

"Focus here Desai; we are trying to help save your girlfriend. It is not the time to make comments on mine and Rico's relationship." I say with a roll of my eyes.

"He hasn't said much Lacey." Rico points out as we meet up with him on the other side of the car.

"He gave me a look in the car when you took my hand." I explain as we walk into the building. It's practically empty, but there are officers here and there around the pit.

"Right, because him giving you a look automatically means that he has a comment on our relationship." Rico says with a small smile and a shake of his head.

"Can we just drop it? We need to wait for Chief Masterson to get here." I say with a sigh.

"Can I help you kids?" one of the police officers asks.

"Oh, we're just meeting Kyle. He should be here shortly." Danny says quickly and Rico and I give him a look. He might be the only one that has the nerve to call Chief Masterson by his first name.

"Okay. Wait here though. We can't allow kids to be wandering about the station." The officer says.

"That makes total sense. We will wait right where we are for him to get here. Hey, were you aware that his daughter was in the hospital?" Danny asks and I spin around to stare at him in shock.

"Uh, no, I had no idea she was in the hospital. Is she okay?" the officer asks.

"Not really. You see, she was pushed or she fell at Johnny Cakes on Monday evening, and after waking up this afternoon from the coma that she had been in, she fell back asleep and then her heart stopped. Have you noticed the Chief acting frazzled at all this week?" Danny explains. I'm in complete shock at how Danny is talking to the officer and Rico just seems amused and confused at the same time.

"I'm sorry to hear that, and you know, I have noticed the Chief acting a little weird, I just thought that it had something to do with the Regina Crane investigation. You know we still haven't found the murder weapon in that." The officer says in a low voice.

"No, see, Kyle's been trying to take some time away from Regina's murder to watch the footage from the diner to see just what happened to his daughter, but every time that he does that, he gets pulled away on another useless lead for Regina's investigation. Does that seem fair to you? Stalling the Chief of Police in finding out what happened to his still living daughter to try and solve a murder case?" Danny asks.

"No, it doesn't. Why hasn't he said something to us? If he had said why he was trying to look at that footage, we would have left him alone. He never once said… well, I'll spread the word. Let the other officers know not to bug the Chief until we hear that his daughter is okay." The officer says before walking away.

Once she's out of ear shot, I start in on Danny.

"Have you lost your mind Desai? What is Chief Masterson going to say when he finds out that you did that?" I ask.

"Hey, at least I got it to start circulating around the station that Jo's in the hospital and to let the Chief look at the footage. I'm trying to help save my girlfriend, remember?" Danny asks.

"Guys, calm down. Chief Masterson just got here, we'll go with him to look at the footage and maybe Lacey can find something. But Lace, Danny's right, if the other officers know that something is seriously wrong in Chief Masterson's life that he's trying to figure out then it actually is helping Jo." Rico says as he places a hand on my shoulder and I feel myself relax.

"You two are perfect for each other." Danny mutters before turning to face Chief Masterson and explaining the situation that just occurred.

"Did he just say…?" I start to ask.

"Yeah, he did, but I would like to think that he's right about it." Rico says as he takes my hand and kisses it before following after Danny and Chief Masterson.

Once we get to Chief Masterson's office, he pulls up the footage from the diner and then lets me sit down. Since the footage starts at the beginning of the day, I have to fast forward some to get to the right time. As soon as I see myself practically run out of the diner and Rico follow, I just let it play. Zooming in, I see Archie and Danny arguing, but I focus more on Sarita's movements. There's a part of me that feels like Sarita pushed or tripped Jo that caused her to fall. Slowing the video down some, I watch as Jo stands up from the booth and goes to walk behind Danny. I watch Sarita push a chair into Jo's way and then watch, horrorstruck as Jo trips on the leg of the chair and then fall to the ground. I let out a small sob and turn to Rico. As he holds me and tries to calm me down, I kind of hear Danny and Chief Masterson talking to each other, but their voices are low and rushed, so I can't focus properly. After a couple minutes, my phone goes off in my pocket and I hastily pull it out.

**Jo's okay. The doctors were able to restart her heart. – Tess**

"Guys, I just got a text from Mrs. Masterson. Jo's okay. The doctors restarted her heart." I say over Danny and Chief Masterson.

**Have you guys gotten a chance to look at the footage yet? – Tess**

**Yeah. Sarita pushed a chair into Jo's way, causing Jo to trip and then fall. – Lacey**

"Chief Masterson, do what you have to do. I am going to go back to the hospital, and to make sure that they stay out of trouble, I'm taking these two with me." I say as I take Rico's hand in mine and then grab Danny's upper arm to pull him along.

"Please let Tess know that I will be there as soon as I can. If I don't get there some time tonight, then I will definitely be there first thing in the morning." Chief Masterson says with a grateful smile.

"Of course; we'll make sure to tell her sir." I say as I lead the guys out of the station and to my car. "Get in." I say once I unlock the car.

"Gees Lace. Rico, man, make sure you know what you are getting into with this one before you dive in head first." Danny comments as he gets into the back seat.

"I plan on doing just that Danny." Rico says with a smile.

"Desai, keep the comments about mine and Rico's relationship to yourself from now on, got it?" I ask as I glare at him in the rear view mirror.

"Got it Porter." Danny replies with a nod.


	8. Shoulder to Lean On

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Chapter Eight: Shoulder to Lean On

Once I pull into the parking lot of the hospital again, I just sit there for a couple minutes after turning the car off. Danny gets out and heads inside to see Jo, but Rico waits with me. I don't look at him; I can't. I know that I shouldn't be as affected by almost losing Jo completely as the guys, but it's shaken me. When Rico reaches over to me, I let out a sigh.

"Go see Jo. I'll be there shortly." I say, but I still don't look at him.

"I'm not leaving you alone Lacey. I can tell that this is making you upset. I want to be able to make it better for you, but I can't do that if you don't let me." Rico says and I blink rapidly to get rid of the tears that are forming in my eyes and I turn to look out my window.

"Rico…" I say in a shaky voice.

"No Lacey, I'm not leaving you alone. Chief Masterson didn't say a single word to either of us about what happened with Archie after we left here earlier, so I am not going to risk losing you by leaving you alone. If you aren't ready to go in there and see Jo, then I'm staying with you." Rico insists.

"She's your best friend Rico. You should be there with her. She needs you." I say as I wipe the tears away.

"She has her mom and Danny. If she asks for us, then we'll go in together. Until I know that Jo is feeling up to seeing me, you are my main priority Lacey." Rico says as he coaxes me to look at him and wipes the tears that are on my cheeks away with his thumb.

"Should we call Chief Masterson and ask him what happened with Archie?" I ask slowly as I pull my phone out.

"If you want to, you can. I'm not going to make you do anything that you don't want to do." Rico responds as he sits back in his seat.

"Rico, if you don't want me to call him, then I won't. But if we want this relationship to ever have a chance of working out, then we need to have open lines of communication between us." I say placing my phone on the dash.

"Open lines of communication, huh? How about this; Lacey I really like you. I want to be with you, but it's getting frustrating for me to try and get there to really be an 'us' when you keep pushing me away. I want to be the one that you automatically turn to when you are having a bad day so that I can comfort you. I want to be the first person that you think of when you wake up in the morning and the last person you think of before you go to bed; heck, I want to be the one you dream about at night. I want all of this, but that won't happen if you can't let yourself trust me. I will never hurt you, physically or emotionally, and I'm sure you know that by now, but for some reason, you act like you are alone in everything you do. I didn't want to say it before, but you looked alone before… when you were with Archie and hanging out with the popular crowd. I hate seeing you like that Lacey. I know that I can make you happy, you just have to give me a chance, and you have to give yourself a chance to really trust someone again. Is that too much to ask?" Rico asks and I'm in tears. "Lacey, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make you cry." He adds as he wipes the tears away.

"I get emotional easily. I've just learned to hide it well." I say with a small smile.

"Do you want to head inside? We can sit in the hall outside of Jo's room until we're told that they are ready for us to come in." Rico suggests.

"Sure. But, can I do one thing first?" I ask.

"Go ahead." Rico says and I pull him in for a kiss.

After a couple minutes we pull away when air becomes necessary. I'm smiling for the first time in what feels like forever, and so is Rico.

"I thought you wanted to get to know each other better?" He says with a smirk.

"You can know someone for years and really know nothing about them. It doesn't really matter if the first time we ever spoke to each other was on Monday. The only way to see if we can work as a couple is to try it out." I say with a sigh.

"I'll take what I can get." Rico says giving me another quick kiss before he gets out of the car and comes to open my door.

As we walk towards the hospital, I hear footsteps behind us. When I stop walking, and pull Rico to a stop as well, the footsteps behind us stop. Shaking my head I start walking again and the footsteps start, this time, Rico hears them and pulls me to a stop, but this time, the footsteps keep going. I turn around just in time to see Scott coming towards us with what looks like a bat.

"SCOTT DON'T!" I yell pushing Rico away from me while I step to the side, but Scott follows Rico.

"Lacey, get inside the hospital… now!" Rico calls and I run inside and straight to the receptionist's desk.

"Call the cops." I say quickly and she doesn't ask questions.

"Lacey? What's wrong?" Danny asks as he comes out to the waiting room.

"Scott's out there with a bat and he's trying to beat up Rico. Danny, please do something." I plead as he hurries out. I follow him enough to be just outside the doors so I can hear what's happening.

"Hey Scott, man, what's your problem?" Danny asks and Scott stops mid-swing to look from Rico to Danny.

"This isn't your fight Desai. Stay out of it." Scott says.

"You're right Scott, it isn't my fight. And frankly, it isn't yours either. It's not Rico's fault that Lacey broke up with Archie, its Archie and Sarita's fault. I can see that you're upset by Sarita and Archie being together, but why are you taking it out on Rico? He has done nothing to you Scott. Just put the bat down and think about what you're trying to do." Danny says and I'm shocked to see Scott lower the bat to his side.

"I was so furious when I found out that Sarita was cheating on me with Archie. I mean, that's like, the ultimate betrayal. I guess I figured that Lacey broke up with Archie to be with Rico, and Archie turned to Sarita and somehow convinced her to sleep with him to get back at Lacey. I never thought of it any other way, so I saw Rico was to blame in everything. I'm sorry Rico… I lash out when I'm angry. Are we good?" Scott says as he sticks his free hand out to shake hands with Rico.

"Miss, do you still need the police here?" the receptionist asks me.

"No, I think we got it sorted out. But thank you anyway." I say before I walk over to the guys.

Rico still hasn't taken Scott's hand by the time I get to his side. He's staring at Scott trying to decide if it's a trick or not. Once I take his hand and squeeze it, he slowly takes Scott's and shakes it.

"Wait… why were you so upset by Sarita and Archie being together? Haven't you been hanging out with Phoebe more lately?" I ask giving Scott an inquiring look.

"We've only been hanging out more this week. You know, since Sarita and Archie were making out against your car. I was actually coming here to see if Jo was okay, but when I saw you and Rico my anger took over and I lost it. How is she doing anyway?" Scott asks looking at Danny.

"She's doing better. Her heart stopped for a little bit a couple hours ago, but the doctors revived her. She's asking for you Lacey." Danny replies and I look at him in shock.

"She's asking for just me?" I ask eyeing Rico.

"Yeah, I think she wants to really make up for the past." Danny says and after giving Rico a kiss on the cheek, I hurry inside and to Jo's room. Knocking lightly on the door, I stick my head in. "Can I come in Mrs. Masterson?" I ask.

"Of course you can Lacey. She wants to talk to you." Mrs. Masterson says with a small smile.

As I walk over to the chair next to Jo's bed, Mrs. Masterson steps out of the room letting me know that she was going to get something to drink. Once I sit down, I look at Jo and let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry Jo." I mutter.

"It's not your fault Lacey. You were the one that told Sarita to push the chair into my way. You weren't even in the diner at the time." Jo replies.

"That's not what I was apologizing for. After Danny left, I shouldn't have distanced myself from you. No one else really knew what we were going through, so we needed each other. I was wrong in thinking that we would be better off without each other… that I was better off without you. I regretted my decision the second I made it, but I knew that I was already too late to take it back. But I want to make up for it now." I say and tears are falling down my cheeks.

"Danny mentioned you blamed yourself for what happened to me on Monday." Jo says.

"I do. If I hadn't left you 5 years ago to be friends with Sarita, Archie, Regina and Scott, then Sarita wouldn't have taunted me about having Archie, and then she wouldn't have had a reason to trip you." I reply.

"Domino effect would implicate Danny in that theory, not you." Jo says. They are perfect together.

"That's what Danny said when I mentioned it to him and Rico." I say with a nod.

"How are you and Rico doing? Danny mentioned something about you two not talking." Jo inquires.

"Rico and I got into a small fight on Monday night. I was avoiding both Rico and Danny all week. Heck, I was avoiding everyone that I could have hung out with all week." I admit.

"What about Phoebe?" Jo asks.

"I talked to her, but that was about it. She and Scott have been spending time together this week, and Scott was still sitting with Archie and Sarita for some stupid reason." I explain.

"What about now? How are you and Rico doing now?" Jo asks.

"We're doing better. I think we are going to try an actual relationship." I say with a small smile.

"He's a great guy Lacey. And you deserve a great guy. Just don't try to force anything if there isn't something there." She advises.

"We are going to see where things go, but he hasn't actually asked me out on a date. You asked me out on a date on his behalf." I say.

"Not true. It was my idea to invite you. Not his. Lacey, Danny isn't the only one that wants us to all to be friends again. I want that too. That's kind of why I suggested Cinderella. I thought that if it was more of a girly play, then there would be a better chance that you would agree to go. I didn't know when I made the suggestion for the play or that we invite you that you had any kind of feelings for Rico. I thought he was involved in a one-sided crush with you. But I'm glad that you like him back." She says.

"Excuse me ladies, but Ms Masterson, you need to get some rest. You experienced Cardiac Arrest. You need time to heal." The doctor says coming into the room and offering Jo a small smile.

"Of course Doctor; I'll be back tomorrow Jo." I say with a smile as I stand up.

"You are going to the play tomorrow with Rico." Jo reminds me.

"I know; I'll come by before I get ready." I say before walking towards the door.

"I'm glad we're working on being friends again Lacey. I've really missed spending time with you." Jo says making me stop in my tracks.

"I'm glad too Jo. And once you're out of the hospital and feeling better, I'm taking you shopping." I say before walking out and bumping into Rico.

"How's she doing?" He asks.

"She's doing okay. We're gonna work on being friends again." I say.

"That's good. I won't have to choose between my two favorite girls." He comments with a smirk.

"I wouldn't ask you to Rico. If it came down to it, I would expect you to pick Jo. She's your best friend." I say with a sigh.

"It would depend on the situation and I would need to know everything that had happened to make the right choice." He says after a moment.

"Is everything okay with Scott?" I ask as I sit down on the floor and tug on his hand to get him to sit next to me.

"Yeah, he left a couple minutes after you came inside. He said that he was heading home to get sleep before tomorrow night." Rico says.

"What's happening tomorrow night?" I ask.

"Scott and Phoebe are joining us for the play tomorrow. Apparently Phoebe asked him about going right after you invited her, and he said yes." Rico explains.

"Well, as long as he doesn't try anything to hurt you, I'm glad that they're coming with us. Maybe once Jo is out of the hospital and is feeling better, the six of us could hang out." I suggest.

"I would like that." Rico says with a nod.

"Are you tired?" I ask.

"Yeah, I am. It's been a long a stressful day, and we are going to have a long night tomorrow night, so we should get home and get some sleep." He says as he stands up and helps me up.

"Where's Danny?" I ask as we walk out to my car.

"He's talking to the Chief. He said something about having an important question to ask him." Rico says nodding towards where Danny and Chief Masterson were standing and talking in hushed voices.

"I wonder what that could be." I say with a shrug.

"We'll find out in due time." He says with a smile.

"I'm glad you're here with me Rico. I don't know if I would have been able to survive this week if you hadn't been there." I say after a minute of silence.

"Like I told you earlier; I want to be the one that you turn to when you are having a bad day. I will always be there with a shoulder for you to lean on if you need it." Rico says as he kisses the back of my hand.

"I might just have to take you up on that soon." I say with a smile.


	9. Tossing and Turning

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Chapter Nine: Tossing and Turning

By the time that Rico and I get back to his house, I'm exhausted. Going back and forth to the hospital to see Jo has taken a lot out of me. Once I'm done changing, I walk into Rico's room and crawl under the covers. The sheets smell like him. As I inhale his scent, I quickly fall asleep and my dreams are flooded with images of Rico. I've fallen hard for him, and I'm no longer ashamed to admit it to myself. And I won't be ashamed to admit it to anyone else if they ask. It was maybe half way through the night when the nice dreams that I'm having about me and Rico turn dark. _Archie's face appears and is threatening Rico. Sarita saunters over and is taunting me. Regina's dead body gets up from the floor of her living room and is mocking me for being with an outcast like Rico. Phoebe and Scott are standing off to the side just shaking their heads at me. I try to run; try to get away from all of the ridicule that they are giving me, but when I turn around, I see Rico's lifeless body lying on a metal slab. He's dead. Hit in the head like Regina was. I try to cry out, but no sound leaves my body. I'm falling. I land with a thud in the cemetery. Looking around I see a group of people all dressed in black standing around a grave site. I push my way through the crowd and tears stream down my cheeks. Rico is being buried. I fall to my knees crying. I can hear Danny and Jo talking about what a shame it was for him to have died so young. I turn to where their voices are coming from and I'm shocked to see no heartache in their eyes. They are both completely emotionless while they talk about Rico. Then Danny's words hit me. **"It had to be done. I didn't have a choice."** Danny killed Rico. But that can't be right. Danny wouldn't hurt Rico. Danny knows how much I care about Rico, and he knows that if Rico was killed that it would hurt me, and Danny said he regretted not growing up with Jo and I. Didn't he care about me at all; about my happiness? Then it's Jo's words that hit me. **"Lacey would have destroyed them both eventually. It's understandable what you did Danny."** NO! This can't be happening. It just can't. There has to be something that I'm missing. I stand up and follow Danny and Jo as they walk away from Rico's grave. They haven't gone very far before they stop again. I walk up next to Jo and gasp at the sight in front of me. There, right next to Rico's grave, is my own headstone. My head starts spinning. It's showing flashes from every image that I just encountered until it's all one big blur. I scream as I hold my head in my hands trying to get the images to go away._

"Lacey?"

I hear his voice but I don't respond; I can't even bring myself to open my eyes.

"Lacey, you need to wake up; it's just a bad dream."

"This isn't happening. This isn't happening. This isn't happening." I just keep repeating to myself.

"Lacey, come on, I need you to wake up. I will show you that everything is alright."

"It wasn't my fault, it wasn't." I say as I curl up into a ball and hug my knees to my chest with my eyes still closed tightly.

I feel the bed dip and I know that he's trying to help, but I still can't look at him. He moves his arm around me and tries to turn me over onto my back, but I won't budge. I do feel my body relax at his touch though. Being in his embrace is comforting. Despite not opening my eyes to see that everything is okay, I hold on to his hand. I don't want him to leave.

"Lacey, please wake up. I'm right here." He kisses my shoulder and my eyes try to open but they can't. Something's wrong.

Whatever I do seems to satisfy him enough to stop his attempts at waking me up and we both fall back asleep. Sometime later I feel him leave. He must be going back into the guest room so that his parents don't get suspicious that something more is happening between us. After he leaves, I toss and turn for the rest of the night. My body is shaken by the nightmare and sporadically pieces of it flash through my head enough to keep me from falling into a deep sleep. The next thing I know, my phone is going off indicating that I have a text message. Sitting up quickly, I look around the room trying to remember where I put my phone last night. When I see the screen light up in the pocket of my bag, I push the covers away from my body and walk over and pull the phone out. I groan when I see that I have a handful of texts from Phoebe.

**Scott and I are coming tonight. - Phoebe**

**Although you might already know that because he said he saw you at the hospital late last night. - Phoebe**

**What time are you and Rico heading to NYC? – Phoebe**

**Oh, and what is the dress code? – Phoebe**

**Sorry, but I keep forgetting things and then remembering once I've hit send. Are we getting dinner there too, or are we just going to the show and then coming back? – Phoebe**

**Okay, first thing, yes, I already knew that you and Scott were coming tonight. Rico told me that's what Scott said. Second thing, I believe we are heading out at 4:30 this afternoon. Third thing, I'm guessing since its Broadway, something somewhat formal, but not too casual. So a nice top and pants or skirt or something like that. Fourth thing, I have no idea if we are having dinner there or not. Rico hasn't said anything about it, but that could just mean that it's a surprise. Or it could mean that we are just going to the show and then coming back. I'll ask him and let you know. – Lacey**

**Thanks Lace. See you tonight. – Phoebe**

After I put my phone back in my bag, I head downstairs and look around. I can hear someone in the kitchen, but I'm not sure if it is Rico or someone in his family. Sticking my head around the corner, I let out a small gasp at the sight before me. Rico is standing at the stove making breakfast and he isn't wearing a shirt. Was he wearing a shirt last night when he came in to try and wake me up from the nightmare? I can't remember. I'm so caught up in staring at his slightly toned back that I don't realize that he's turned his head and is staring at me.

"Good morning Lacey."

"What? Oh, right… good morning." I say and I feel my cheeks turn red.

"Do you want to talk about last night? I heard you screaming and crying. Is everything okay?" Rico asks.

"Yeah, everything's fine. It was just a really bad dream." I reply as I sit down on one of the bar stools at the island.

"Do you mind if I ask what it was about?" He asks as he pushes a plate of pancakes in front of me.

"It was really terrifying, and I really don't want to rehash what I encountered. It concerns a not so great future for us." I mutter and I pour a little bit of syrup onto the pancakes.

"Okay, I won't ask any more questions." He says as he sits down next to me and places a hand on my knee.

"What are your plans for today before we leave for the show?" I ask after a couple minutes.

"I was thinking of swinging by and seeing Jo. What about you?" He asks.

"I was thinking of doing the same thing. I told Jo last night that I would stop by today before we left." I reply.

"We should go together." Rico suggests.

"Sure. Um, can I ask you something Rico?" I ask slowly.

"Of course you can Lacey. You can ask me anything that you want to." He replies.

"Did you sleep in your room after you heard me screaming and crying?" I ask timidly. I'm scared of my reaction if he says yes.

"Uh, yeah, I did. For a couple of hours after I tried to wake you up, I was in there, but that was mainly because you wouldn't let go of my hand." He says.

"I'm sorry." I say after I swallow the bite of food that I had in my mouth.

"It's okay Lacey. You were having a bad dream about our future, so you held on to the one bit of reality that you could." Rico says with a shrug.

"Rico, about tonight…" I start to say.

"Lacey, if you don't want to go to the play tonight, that's fine. We don't have to go." Rico says quickly.

"No, I want to go; that wasn't what I was going to say. I was going to ask if you could stay with me tonight. I slept better with you there." I say and hold my breath to see what he says.

"Oh right, sorry for jumping the gun there, then. Of course I'll stay with you tonight." He says with a smile.

"Thanks. And Phoebe would like to know what the dress code is and if we are having dinner while we are in NYC or if we are just going to the play and then coming back?" I ask.

"Well, it is Broadway, so nothing too casual. And Scott and I briefly talked about treating you and Phoebe to dinner when we are there." He says with a half smile. "I mean, only if that's something that you want to do." He adds quickly.

"I would like that." I say before I continue eating breakfast in silence.

After I'm done eating, I clear my plate and turn to face Rico. Despite the fact that he still has a full plate of food that he hasn't touched yet, he's staring at me, as if waiting for me to tell him what my nightmare was about last night. For someone who I barely know, he knows me way too well.

"You're staring at me again." I point out.

"I'm trying to see if your body language will give me anything since you yourself won't. I can't make things better if you don't tell me what's wrong." Rico says. I knew it.

"I just don't want to relive that nightmare Rico, that's all. Can we please not talk about it?" I ask.

"Lacey, please, I just want to help. Maybe I can clear up why you had the nightmare." Rico suggests. Man he's persistent. I realize that's one of the things I like most about him.

"Fine… in my nightmare, Danny either killed both of us or just you and then I committed suicide because I couldn't live without you. Are you happy now?" I ask as tears stream down my face and I turn away from him. "I'm not even sure why I would have a nightmare like that. It doesn't make sense." I add.

"It kind of does make sense Lacey. You know that Danny has killed before, so in your subconscious, you know that he has the ability to kill anyone, at any time. But ask yourself why he killed his aunt. There had to have been something she said or did that made Danny fear that you and Jo would get hurt, so in order to protect you both, he killed her. He has never once tried to harm either of you, yet your subconscious was letting you know that it knows that there is a small chance that he might turn on you. It's a small fear that anyone, like me, who actively hangs out with Danny will have, even Jo. The only difference between you and Jo is that she doesn't let that fear control her. She loves him enough that it holds off the fear of what he could do to her. Believe me, I still don't completely trust Danny, and I have the same fear that you and Jo have, but I hang out with him so that if he ever did turn on Jo, or now that you are hanging out with us, turns on you, I can be there to protect you both. Jo's love for him holds her fear at bay; my determination to keep you and Jo safe holds my fear at bay; you just need to figure out what stronger feeling than fear you have towards Danny and focus on that until the fear no longer seems to exist." Rico says. I'm not facing him, but I hear him come up behind me. "I know that it won't be easy, but you will figure something out, I know you will." He adds before kissing my shoulder and walking away.

I turn around just in time to see Rico start walking upstairs. He's given me a lot to think about and now that's he's analyzed my nightmare, I know that he's right. I do know what Danny is capable of, but I also know that Danny would never hurt me or Jo, at least not physically, or on purpose. His actions 5 years ago were strictly in an effort to keep us from getting hurt, and while I'm grateful for him trying to protect us from physical harm, I hate him for putting us through the emotional turmoil that accompanied said actions. Following Rico's movements, I head upstairs as well. I need to talk to someone that isn't Rico or Danny about this. I need to see if Jo is awake, she's the only person that might be able to help me figure out what other feelings I have towards Danny that are stronger than fear.


End file.
